licinius

Accept it, Brits are not the nicest people in the world & expats are notoriously the worst. Of course I don't mean ALL expats, just the majority.

Back on subject. The UK can't afford the welfare state anymore. It's creation was a good thing but it's been watered down since then from helping people who need help to throwing cash around willy nilly. This thread has convinced me that the winter fuel payment has to go!

jay01

It is very sad that you have such a low opinion of your fellow Brits or is it the British in general. I do not know what sort of peer circle you go round in but I would differ with the majority being unsavoury in fact 90% of those I know are really nice people, the ones that tend to be less honourable tend to have been here many years and feel they have the right to rip others off, many of which have businesses and have prices so extortionate that coming from the UK within the last few years I struggle to understand the reality of it all, have qualifications to do construction jobs that they learned through playing with Lego but think they are builders and tinkering with your car on a Saturday makes you a time served mechanic but in defence of these people many expats leave their brains at the airport and their common sense within the UK.

I treat others as I would wish to be treated, I trust till it is broken and I select my friends by the same accord, maybe choosing a little more careful may change your opinion

As this is the country of choice for many retired people they are more than entitled to receive what is due to them irrelevant of where they choose to live. I choose to live here and as I am a long way off retirement, I am very unlikely to get anything from the UK when I am at retirement at 66/67 or even older as they are likely to increase the retirement age again, but I do not begrudge anyone getting what they worked so hard for and have seen diminished by constant whittling away of pension pots, if they got decent pensions in the first place as they were led to believe they would get then they would not need anything else.

jo-ann

You so obviously are not a pensioner so you do not know what you are talking about, when you do get to that age you will realize that it is bloody cold here in the winter and it is impossible to get more than 1 room in a Spanish house to a reasonable temperature to sit in with your thick blanket and several jumpers and woolly socks on, and when you suffer from old age ailments believe me you need warmth. So please don't shout you mouth off about things you know nothing about

licinius

I think you summed Brit expats up pretty well there Jay

licinius

Of course I know what the winter in like Jo & yes I know you only get one room warm but my point is that you can warm up in Spain under the duvet, whereas in Scotland you can't!

steviedeluxe

I've worked in Scotland, and I have to say I don't recognise this description. The buildings in Scotland are built to cope with 7 or 8 months of winter; I certainly found my flat in Glasgow to be perfectly snug, as were the hotels when I wasn't based in a flat.
Again you choose to ignore people's point, that the further inland in Spain you go (especially at altittude) the colder it gets in winter. In northern Spain you're more likely to see snow some years than in England. If you don't believe me, please visit one of the following cities in December through to March - Burgos, Leon, Segovia, Soria, Cuenca or Teruel.
The cold weather payment does not differentiate between people living in colder homes and those in warmer places. If it did, perhaps those in London (a bigger population than all of Scotland!) would no longer qualify?
Of course all of this is academic. It looks increasingly likely that the government will chop this benefit, when they introduce the new pensions system.

licinius

Perhaps that's because you weren't old & frail so didn't feel the cold

If this benefit is getting scrapped then good, trust me m8 I know about cold weather. I was in Alberta for the coldest winter in decades (-51'c) & had a trip to Moscow in Novemeber where I couldn't even pee because my genitalia shrank so much.

I don't dispute that Spain get's chilly during the winter months, what I do dispute is that the Spanish winter will kill OAP's like it does in Britain!

Mitzyboy

You're just making me laugh now
You clearly dont have a very nice circle of friends then if you have made such a huge generalised assumption.

The fact remains that the majority of pensioners on here have contributed all their lives to a system that allows them benefits when they reach that retirement age. The fact that we take them doesnt make us "not the nicest people in the world".

So theres nothing wrong with what they are doing. I agree that pensioners arent going to die here regularly because of the cold, but the fact remains that it gets cold here in Spain in the winter. We have to have the wood fire burning and often the heaters on. We choose to claim what is our right and are not embarrassed to do so.

I feel very sad that you are running expats down again just because of this thread, and really wonder why you are here if you feel so badly about us

Lionda

You could have a point there .... maybe OAP's in Spain should get an allowance during the hottest months to help with the electric bills for fan useage to enable them to cool down They've certainly paid enough into the system and are entitled to get something back.

jo-ann

What am I supposed to do, sit under a duvet all day long!!!!! Get real. Most people in Scotland and UK have their nice central heating working and their fitted carpets. Not an option here - fuel allowance is needed.

lynnxa

my dad's house in the UK was like an oven - he had the heating set at 27º

he only had his pension to live on, & also ate very well, so if he could do it then anyone can

we could never get our place here that hot - maybe one room if there was an open fire - but not the whole place - I'm not sure if it would be possible - but even if it was, I can't imagine what the bills would be like - they were bad enough trying to keep the temp at 21º

Chiclanagir

Why? Don´t they have duvets in Scotland!

steviedeluxe

Hard people, the Scots. Rumour has it, they don't even wear anything under their kilts!

jackytoo

Absolutely agree. Whilst I am against the benefit culture I don't consider this as a benefit, more of an entitlement when people have contributed all their lives.

scampicat

You're living in Spain and you call the UK a third world country?? At least the rules in the UK are consistent and not made up as they go along!